Do we need a will? Does dh need to change his

[Legaleagle4]

Ages ago dh made a will because the house was in his name and bank accounts
Now it's in both names and all shared out joint bank, mortgage house deeds.

Do we need a new will because it's all shared so if he dies it's mine anyway?

I know ultimately we'll should do mirror wills but is this urgent?

Even with everything joint you meed to consider what happens if you both die together, eg road accident. What happens to it all then.

As I understand it…

If there is no will I think it prolongs things and there must be some legal stuff to do. You musta have to advertise for people to come forward etc etc at the very least and then do extra bureaucratic stuff. If there is a Will it means you can distribute the estate fairly immediately and it means no one can argue with your wishes. There is enough admin without complicating things.

if children are under 18 with no will they would be entitled to part of the estate - if your home is involved this could complicate things. If they are over 18 and financially dependent on deceased or vulnerable this could again complicate things as they may be entitled to some of the estate.

a will also designates who deals with estate which can’t be argued with (unless there is some misconduct)

probably not relevant in your case but if any other children you didn’t know about came forward they could also have a claim on the estate or if they were 18+ and vulnerable - I’ve read quite a few DNA stories in here where people are discovering they have different parentage to what they thought!

I would just do it as it’s tidier and as said creates peace

also when people die lots of emotion come to the surface and you will be surprised what dynamics surface, particularly around sentimental items - again a will makes it clear who has what

with all due respect a Will takes the need to just rely on trust

Exactly this..or if one of you is left unable to function as before but alive - do you want kids to be able to live in family home ect

I guess I’m saying it’s “estate planning” for eventualities rather than just “who gets what”

Please check with your 18 year old before making them an executor. Making a solicitor an executor may be much better as they are used to the processes etc.

Not having a will (intestate) makes a difficult time 100x harder. Resolving an estate is complicated, even if the estate is 'simple'.

Go to a solicitor and make a decent will as a kindness to your survivors, whoever they are, so that your estate is resolved as you would want. Leave a letter of wishes to give them a plan to follow when they most need guidance.

Dealing with my DH's estate, I find it is not especially complex as such but even so sorting it is not always easy and having a will naming an executor(s) and beneficiaries has made things more straightforward.

Until your oldest DC is 18, s/he cannot legally be executor (and no solicitor will allow that) and you need 2 adult executors to protect your minor DCs interests. Also, I would hesitate to make one DC executor before they are all old enough.

At the moment his will leaves everything to me but as I said it's all joint now anyway

My DH refuses to make a will as he says we don’t need one. He just doesn’t want to think about it 🙄.

We are married and our house is worth approx £200K. We have minimal savings. We know that we would both want to be cremated. We have 2 DC. Do we really need a will? Wouldn’t everything just go to the surviving spouse or be split between both DC if we both died at the same time? DC are older teens and we know someone in the family would take them in if needed.

I would prefer to have a will but is it detrimental in our circumstances not to have one? What do I do if DH doesn’t agree to make one?

Well it can be challenged by a minor child and you couldn’t be able to act for them. As said Thai is about estate planning not who gets what

260K property, husband only on deeds. He will have some teacher's pension and I have small savings and small pension

do I have to do something. The current property bought when we were already married.

He is not against a will and is only on deeds in order to borrow more. I am not against a will. Do we need a will each?

Yes yes you do - there are free will and cheap will months, templates you can you use. It is simple and easy to do and inexpensive

but saves an awful lot of time and money and to avoid going to court to get them to decide

@SpringIscomingalso yws get a will and on the deeds if married

I think this is a common misconception, however it doesn’t just happen…and as pp says there is a complicated process if died intestate. Someone needs to act and administrate and I would think appointing that person would involve a court process, especially if custody of children is involved.

also if children have different representatives they may not agree on whether they stay in the house etc. imv it’s kind to survivors to make provision for their potential needs in line with what is best for them as you see it. I don’t think relatives could probably just claim them, social services would need to intervene and be shown that is your wish

for me Wills are part of living peacefully..and knowing things are sorted. It’s actually rather liberating! People find it hard to do. The solicitor that drew up my Will had only just done his own, ironic! His wife suddenly became sick and he’d been ignoring like many of us!

you can still make a will and then your half way there. Most solicitors give you a free 15-30 mins so maybe get a list of questions. Maybe if you did yours H may do his after

Also all bank accounts are frozen so people would need to finance children’s needs until settled which may be tricky and long winded - like everything from dinner money to just everything!

Joint accounts aren’t frozen.

@LadyCatNap you can make a will for yourself even if DH doesn’t want to. They are individual things.

I think the PP was thinking of the nightmare scenario where both parents die together. TBH in that scenario you'd be relying in the banks to be accommodating and family to step in even with a will.

It is ALL joint though. DH and I have a joint bank account but we also have individual ISA and savings account both of which have to be individual in order to get the benefits. Indeed the I is individual in ISA.